An Integrated Learning Portfolio!

Annida

How does calvino describe this city?
According to Calvino in this context, the city of leonia emphasizes on memory as a lost term. This city has been described as a city which loses its identity its memory everyday. Every morning a new memory rises and as its time for sunset gradually the memory fades away. Calvino has also given a brief description about all the elements which are dumped everyday to give rise to a new element another day even for the people of leonia memory as a term doesn’t hold importance. Memory in this city is not considered to be a very subtle term.

What is the role of the monuments?
Monuments is this city aren’t really pictured and visualized well enough to be given a role to lead. All about this city is the mountain like formations building up across the edges of the city rising everyday caused because of the elements which are thrown out everyday leading to a major stress for the city.
How does urban interact with the natural?
The urban occupants find comfort in residing in the natural. Every element in the city is used in its natural form until the time its is dumped leading to the growth of the same form the other day. A very basic pattern is followed in this city everyday also causing people to have faded or no memories of their past. This city shows no importance for past, things don’t happen naturally but against the law of the nature. Where past is supposed to hold importance its thrown away everyday. Throwing elements at the edge of the city everyday, sweepers considered as angels, growth of city waste and no place to dump all causing major hazard to the nature. The city in easy terms does not interact well enough with the natural entities.

How do we distinguish between natural and man made?
Man made forms do not hold major importance in the city because they’re built up everyday and thrown out everyday. Every morning the elements are replaced from its new form causing to no aging and no growth in the city, as its time to say goodbye for an old element, a new element rises from birth whereas natural elements are aging day by day causing no harm to any entity in the city.

This project has been one of the most interesting and exciting projects up to date.The project began with the selection of a passage leading to extraction of memory from the text chosen, henceforth it was visualized forming a base for calvino’s passage. In the semester we have dug deep into the project to form visual imaginations and writings. As every class passed each and every layer was extracted and scraped off from the story giving birth to visual forms and stories leading to those formations.

This city was built up and known to the world today because of the biggest export of drugs in the country and all across the world. the city was known for its leonian vinchi, a white powdered drug made in the outskirts of the city. In such places where even a speck of dust is impossible to be tracked down.

Its since the export started and the business expanded in the drug world did the wars began and began the deaths in number that can’t be kept in count.

Over the years as time passed by, marca in no time became the king of the drug empire in leonia. Under his rule in the drug world the death rate outnumbered the birth rate. In no time he was exporting vin chi all around the world. He had the leonian police working under his foot. He had bought every possible source with the money he had.

Marca had a large army working under him. He was the man of his family, a good husband, a good son, his family supported him on every step he took and every decision he made.

He was respected by his fellow mates namely pedro and morgana

The period from 1989 to 1997 was a major rise in the drug world, over 10 years the exportation of vin chi had reached its peak. People were consuming it in different measures, whether it be a peasant or a business tycoon. It was available in all measures.

The drug enforcement was not able to handle the epidemic. The case had ran out of their hands and they could not possibly do anything. Everyone worked under marca even the government officials were bound by his money.

Marca came from a very small village named tavo, he was born and brought up in a poor environment, less education, scarcity of human resources, alcoholic father, needy mother. Growing up in such a built up environment where he only saw violence around him he knew how difficult the world was going to be for him and so he created himself to fight against it and today he respected where he stood.

Marca had his own set of believes and rules he followed.

“I value where I stand today”, he said.

Winters of 1997, over the high range of mountains and down the steep hills walking through deserted regions one finally reaches the wild city of leonia. The city today was known to the world for its wide exportation in drugs. 5am to be precise, I saw those little men running toward me along with big guns all set put a bullet trough my body, one shot and the birds flew, another shot and the third shot and I was on the floor shutting my eyes gradually how seconds passed by and that moment I flew back into my past, smiling I was lying on the marble floor and my blood was drying away as I shut my eyes to the world.

Summer of 1989, traveling back in my past I only hear sounds of gun and crushers and shouts and cries, a dark past I had lived indeed. I was rising in the drug market that year, the market was a scandal. Every day a new death a new scam, a new controversy. Vin chi was being consumed all over the year, that year opened opportunities for me but I also knew was coming a threat as a gift.

As my empire was growing over years, I could see and feel the desire and urge and desperation of growing wider everyday.

The greed and hunger for money had blindfolded me towards my friends my family and gradually that greed was leading to a major collapse in my career pushing me towards a point of madness and anger and sorrow. The end years of my life pulled me into depression and loneliness and vague desire forcing me to live. Days were just passing by as I was counting them on my fingers. Those unwanted wrinkles of hopelessness started to show on my face. The humiliating last days of my life left me with helplessness and regrets. As I reflected my negative past in front I even had my best days in those young wild years.

That morning, winters of december 1997, the temperature was -8 degree celsius. I was wearing a shirt with an over sweater with other several layers in an attempt to keep myself warm, holding a cup of hot coffee in my hand I heard a loud noise coming from outside my house, I knew it was time, I knew the day had arrived, inside I knew I could fight but that little life inside me had given away all hopes and the only future I saw was no future. Stepping outside I saw a huge troop with wide guns in their hands and I just stood their laughing as I got shot and in no time I was on the floor smiling and bid adieu.

6th June, 2015. Armin Van Buuren. These beverage cards sum up my best memory in one picture. How different it is, isn’t it? how one picture, one object, one person is all it takes to throw you down the memory lane. A picture can trigger back a thousand memories breaking it down into fragments of several memories. Its beautiful how a photograph can take you back in time bounding you to cherish and relive those moments again through that one piece of paper.

Only 60 minutes to the concert and I was dealing with major crisis on what to wear, what shoes to put on, what make up to wear. This had to occur someday after all its the girl world and it just can not be easy. I had turned my room up side down looking for that one perfect outfit for the concert, the whole of my wardrobe was scattered on the floor and well i was panicking, wasn’t that easy to notice? Looked here and there and bam there was my outfit. Black over black, always works doesn’t it? So I just put on some lipstick a little liner and I was good to go. This was one concert I was really excited for and yes it was going to be huge. It was 7.30 by the time we reached NSCI stadium and as soon as I got hold of my passes I rushed towards the entrance, my excitement had no boundaries that moment. I could feel the music before I even entered the stadium. I rushed towards the stage, it was cold, dark and the only support of light we had was the beam of laser lights in colors of green, blue and red flashing on faces.

The best memory that adds up to the day was of the beverage cards up there in the image. Not one but two. So we bought one card and swipped vodka shots out of it. I was already so dazed out when I got my second one for free. It was really random but who cares when you get free alcohol, not being inappropriate. Subtly we ordered for more drinks and by the end of the night I was up on my feet dancing and grooving to the music. It was positive vibrations around me everywhere. The clock struck 12 and the music stopped and my feet too. Every moment at the arena was worth the time I spent struggling before the event. It was a night to remember, a memory to last.

Memory is a very subtle term, every day every object reminds us of a certain place a specific person a memory to grief upon or cherish to. We recall our past through people, objects, places even pictures. Some places I visit, some pictures I see, leave me stranded in my past, its a throwback to old times. Various objects drag me down the memory lane to a particular date, in that month of that year. Past leaves a huge impact on our present. Where we stand today is built up because of our past. Some memories are tied up to our body forever and some just fade away with time. Memories that our important to us stay besides us through lifetime but few memories are vague and vanish away as time passes by.

In the city of leonia memory does not hold importance. Each day they wake up to build a new memory which fades by the end of the day and its time for the another day and a new memory. In this city memory does not hold permanence. Existence ends as the day comes to an end.

Lower Parel, a little city in its own. As I drive through the narrow bridges of this part of the city, I see tall glass towers touching the skyline. It is considered to be an elite area of Bombay but that what is noticeable to me are shallow souls walking along the lanes. Being a traveller to this part of bombay I’m myself very familiar with the little spaces and corners here. I notice people walking with their identity hanging around their neck and typical checked shirts in the colors of blue, black and white talking on phones about graphs and statistics. I see no color here. Life in lower panel looks very grey to me.